Dark Horse

The Goon has never had too much trouble with things he can punch — zombies, robots, hobos. But the coven terrorizing his town is striking at his soul. In writer-artist Eric Powell’s four-part “The Goon: Once Upon a Hard Time,” which picks up right after the heartbreaking, hell-raising end of the recent miniseries “The Goon: Occasion of Revenge,” the big guy is on a collision course with the supernatural enemies who want to add his spirit to the power of the unnamed town’s curse. Among the many Eisner Awards that Powell has won with his tough-to-not-like crime-boss creation is one for humor publication — but that was 10 years ago, and as the Goon enters his 50th issue at his longtime Dark Horse Comics home, it’s a dark time. It might even be the end. Hero Complex readers can get […]

Mike Mignola has gone to hell with Hellboy, and he has every intention of staying there. “I find the hell that I’ve created very, very cozy,” he told a crowd at Long Beach Comic Con on Saturday afternoon. “I don’t want to leave it.” So what’s so great about the “Hellboy in Hell” underworld where Mignola plans to spend most of, or maybe all, of the rest of his career? “If you could look inside my head, this is the world that’s in there,” the Hellboy creator said. “It’s entirely made out of the things I like,” which include old buildings and forests and exclude cars, planes and the pressure of trying to illustrate real places. “I just want to draw that world,” he continued. “The trouble is, that world’s really big, so it’s going to take a really long […]

Chuck Palahniuk paused while describing the story of the upcoming “Fight Club 2” to read the Comic-Con reminder that some audience members may be under 18. He then mentioned, in moderate language, that the unnamed narrator from his 1996 novel and fellow support group faker Marla, now married in the 10-issue Dark Horse comic book continuation, “haven’t had great sex in 10 years,” since Tyler Durden was around. “And Marla is desperate to get laid the way she got laid by Tyler, even if it means titrating her husband’s medication so that late at night she can coax Tyler out of suppression,” Palahniuk said, “even if it means doing this to the extent that Tyler is more and more in the world and eventually destroys their home and their family and drags them into chaos” in search of the couple’s […]

Before the “Dark Horse: Whedonversity” panel got started, there was an impromptu singalong among fans in line. A man with a guitar and a female singer performed the theme song from “Firefly,” and then fellow Browncoats joined in the singing of “The Hero of Canton,” the mistaken celebration of the man they call Jayne. Fans’ fervor for the short-lived Joss Whedon sci-fi western series, its follow-up “Serenity” film and the “Avengers” director’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV show endures, and in the pages of official canonical further seasons in Dark Horse comics, the characters’ adventures continue. Zack Whedon, who is writing the six-issue “Serenity: Leaves on the Wind,” which is set nine months after the events of the 2005 film, that series’ artist Georges Jeanty and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10″ writer Christos Gage talked with the crowded room, […]

Now Groo’s makers do what Groo’s makers do best. Following up on the recent announcement from publisher Dark Horse that the long-gestating “Groo vs. Conan” four-part miniseries will debut July 23, the fantasy warrior parody character’s multiple-Eisner-Award-winning creative team, creator-writer-artist Sergio Aragones and co-writer Mark Evanier had more welcome news for their WonderCon panel crowd. “For more than a year, you’re going to have monthly Groo again,” Evanier said. Following the four-parter with Conan, a new 12-issue series, “Friends and Foes,” will catch up with past Groo cast members including Captain Ahax, Granny Groo (no word on whether her grandson is in for another spanking), the witches Arba and Dakarba, and the handsome warrior Arcadio. “Groo vs. Conan,” which Evanier billed as “11 years in the making,” brings Aragones’ comedic creation with a pronounced proboscis, feared as much for his […]

Find the best and the brightest of the comic book world right here, before the books hit the shelves. Thumb through the gallery above, and click on thumbnails below for larger images. We’ll update the post throughout the month so check back to see this growing gallery of covers and pages from upcoming releases from top publishers. To see more art from recent releases, check out our comic book news section and archive of comics-art galleries. Follow us @LATHeroComplex RECENT AND RELATED Afterlife With Archie: Francavilla cover, film details ‘Batman: Death of the Family’: Joker mask, Vol. 3 Black Widow, Falcon inspire ‘Project Runway’ ‘Ms. Marvel’: G. Willow Wilson, Sana Amanat on Kamala Batman at 75: Warner Bros., DC reveal Bat-plans ‘Hellboy: The First 20 Years’: Mike Mignola reflects ‘Flash’ 29: Is Barry closing in on his mom’s killer? Ales Kot […]

Hellboy celebrates his 20th anniversary this month, and on April 1 a new hardcover collection, “Hellboy: The First 20 Years,” will arrive to mark the occasion. The deluxe, oversized volume presents Hellboy creator Mike Mignola’s favorite covers and illustrations in gallery style and includes key pieces of his art such as his first sketch of the character. Hero Complex readers can check out a selection of pages from the collection in the gallery above. The character first appeared in print in 1994, when Dark Horse published “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction,” which introduced readers to the gruff half-demon who was summoned by the Nazis, rescued by the Allies and raised by the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (and was inspired by Mignola’s father). Hellboy’s popularity and evolution surprised even Mignola, however, who said he never would have guessed that the […]

Mike Mignola walks downstairs every morning in his sunny Southern California home, enters his studio and descends straight into hell. “Hell is my place where I get to indulge. It’s my fantasy land,” he said, sitting at his work table earlier this week. Perhaps Mignola’s comfort in the fiery pits of the nether world should come as no surprise. He is the creator of Hellboy, the beloved, red-skinned half-demon and world’s greatest paranormal investigator of comics and film fame. But it’s hard to imagine Mignola on holiday in Hades. As the sun streamed into his book-lined studio, Mignola, dressed casually in denim and a T-shirt, smiled easily and was relentlessly humble while looking back on a career of which most comic book artists dream. He was quick to point out that Hellboy Day — Saturday’s festivities celebrating the 20th anniversary […]

Buffy returns to slaying for the 10th season when “Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1″ hits stands on March 19. Joss Whedon’s creation has continued to survive and thrive in the pages of the Dark Horse comic — now 11 years after the show’s last air date — and will be written by Christos Gage and drawn by Rebekah Isaacs in this newest iteration. Buffy once again helped save the world in Season 9 and will face another new menace while dealing with the remnants of zompires (a zombie-vampire hybrid that Buffy helped create — it’s a long story) in the new season. Isaacs, who was the artist on last season’s spinoff “Angel & Faith,” has taken her pencil to heroic titles such as “Ms. Marvel,” “DV8,” “Sheena” and “Captain America & The Falcon.” Hero Complex caught up with the Savannah College of […]

Find the best and the brightest of the comic book world right here, before the books hit the shelves. Thumb through the gallery above, and click on thumbnails below for larger images. We’ll update the post throughout the month so check back to see this growing gallery of covers and pages from upcoming releases from top publishers. To see more art from recent releases, check out our comic book news section and archive of comics-art galleries. RECENT AND RELATED Iron Fist: Kaare Kyle Andrews plans martial arts epic Burnham gets the creeps over his, Grant Morrison’s ‘Nameless’ ‘Star Wars’ comics returning to Marvel Warren Ellis to pit Moon Knight against ‘weird crime’ ‘Batman: Zero Year’: Scott Snyder talks young Bruce Wayne Peter Parker’s return: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ No. 1 by Dan Slott Rick Remender on optimism against all odds in sci-fi ‘Low’ at Image Image […]